The major objective of the proposed research is to test the intrinsic motivation hypothesis of creativity: the intrinsically motivated state is conductive to the development and maintenance of children's creativity, whereas the extrinsically motivated state is detrimental. The first phase of this research will examine several factors proposed to affect creativity by influencing the child's motivational state: 1) the presence or absence of choice in task engagement; 2) the labeling of a task as "work" or "play," 3) the presence or absence of performance evaluation; and 4) the experience of success or failure at a task. The second phase of this research will investigate methods designed to neutralize the negative and augment the positive effects identified in the first phase. Drawing primarily on the methods of social, developmental and cognitive psychlogy, these studies will use cross-sectional designs to study children aged 6-12. The primary dependent measures will include affect, intrinsic motivation, and artistic, verbal, and problem-solving creativity. In the examination of these forms of creativity, this research will include the development of methods for assessing children's creativity in new domains. The research is relevant to health in several ways: 1) its examination of the affective and cognitive consequences of particular social constaints on children; 2) its determination of the effects of success and failure on intrinsic motivation and creative behavior; and 3) its development of techniques to immunize children against the negative influences of failure and extrinsic constraint.